Most household buckets or pails are provided with bail-like handles by which the buckets may be carried. Such bails are usually pivotally connected to the sides of the bucket such that when the bucket is being transported, the generally vertically oriented bail is held by the user and the weight of the bucket is thereby supported. When the bucket is resting on the floor and the bail released, it will usually fall by gravity to one side or the other of the bucket. Depending on the configuration of the bucket, the bail is usually out of the way in this position, but it is serving no useful purpose.
It is also desirable for products such as buckets to be able to vertically nest with a plurality of like buckets for economic shipment and for retail display purposes. However, it is normally quite difficult to nest buckets having bails. Obviously, if the bails are in their upright positions the buckets cannot be nested. But even when the bails are at rest along a side of the bucket, it is difficult, if not impossible, to stack a plurality of buckets without at least partially rotating the bails toward their upright position at which time they will protrude from the side of the stack of buckets which not only wastes shipping space, but also renders the bails susceptible to being damaged.